Chicago c/o 2015 Applicants (2011-2012 cycle) Forum

[180asBreath]

They do have a pretty well-established GPA floor.

But a 3.3x got in ED. Very surprised an ED app at 178/3.5 got WLed. Crud.[/quote]

Are you basing this off of LSN? I took a look and it seemed like there was some shady stuff in those profiles; especially when a 175 splitter got outright rejected.

[snehpets]

well, if that 3.8/162 non URM really did get in, it must be a pretty weird cycle.

[Tiago Splitter]

They do have a pretty well-established GPA floor.

But a 3.3x got in ED. Very surprised an ED app at 178/3.5 got WLed. Crud.

Are you basing this off of LSN? I took a look and it seemed like there was some shady stuff in those profiles; especially when a 175 splitter got outright rejected.[/quote]

It was a dude who said he got in earlier in the thread. Some weird reverse splitter "admits" are also out there, so maybe there is a big conspiracy to confuse us. In the past though, Chicago has dipped below 3.5, at least for ED.

[Nelson]

well, if that 3.8/162 non URM really did get in, it must be a pretty weird cycle.

I'd bet my first year of UChi tuition that the guy in the Law Admis forum was a flame.

[180asBreath]

Oh, I looked at the profiles and they seemed somewhat suspicious.

[snehpets]

well, if that 3.8/162 non URM really did get in, it must be a pretty weird cycle.

I'd bet my first year of UChi tuition that the guy in the Law Admis forum was a flame.

Is it bad that I kind of want him/her to be? Not because I wish failure on most people, but because they were just so self-righteous and ridiculous, like they were the first 'disadvantaged' person ever.

Also, it's frustrating to me in a "does not compute" way. What incentive is there for them to accept someone with those numbers, and early decision too? Whether or not they would *like* to help out disadvantaged people, they don't have that luxury most of the time if the numbers aren't good enough. And it seems like there are probably other disadvantaged people with similar numbers, some with worse circumstances than going to "an inner-city high school." If they have some really amazing soft, sure. If they're a URM sure, although they've rejected URMs with those numbers. If they're a close family member of Obama, sure. But there are plenty of people applying to UChi with better numbers that can "perform well" that don't have to make excuses for their poor test-taking. Although 3.8 is a good GPA, it's not like there aren't plenty of 4.0s out there EDing there. Argh. It's so mysterious and the poster disappeared so I'll never know.

tl;dr: I agree, probably a flame. Still frustrating. If it was a "regular" I'd probably be happy for them, though still frustrated with the tone they used.

[Nelson]

well, if that 3.8/162 non URM really did get in, it must be a pretty weird cycle.

I'd bet my first year of UChi tuition that the guy in the Law Admis forum was a flame.

Is it bad that I kind of want him/her to be? Not because I wish failure on most people, but because they were just so self-righteous and ridiculous, like they were the first 'disadvantaged' person ever.

I see it both ways. I think the people who get high and mighty about their softs are irritating but I can also understand why if I was outperforming my numbers showing up some of the more aggressive TLS regulars would be tempting. Anytime someone creates an account to post something unprecedented, I just assume it's a flame. I'd be more inclined to believe someone with some history.

On topic, my RD app updated to today's date. Complete mid-September, first UR date in late October.

[Dany]

For the record, Anne Perry is hilarious, so I don't think a funny parenthetical is what they mean by the writing sample comment (not that I think they read it anyway, because why you'd want to read thousands of the same dumb essay is beyond me). I assume they mean people who draw pictures or only write "I choose country A because it's less dumb than B" then sleep for 30 minutes at the end of the test. But again, I would be shocked if they read them at all.

[180asBreath]

For the record, Anne Perry is hilarious, so I don't think a funny parenthetical is what they mean by the writing sample comment (not that I think they read it anyway, because why you'd want to read thousands of the same dumb essay is beyond me). I assume they mean people who draw pictures or only write "I choose country A because it's less dumb than B" then sleep for 30 minutes at the end of the test. But again, I would be shocked if they read them at all.

I'm sorry, what writing sample comment?

[UnamSanctam]

For the record, Anne Perry is hilarious, so I don't think a funny parenthetical is what they mean by the writing sample comment (not that I think they read it anyway, because why you'd want to read thousands of the same dumb essay is beyond me). I assume they mean people who draw pictures or only write "I choose country A because it's less dumb than B" then sleep for 30 minutes at the end of the test. But again, I would be shocked if they read them at all.

I'm sorry, what writing sample comment?

Quoted from their site:

"We will review all LSAT scores that you have received. In accordance with the American Bar Association and LSAC policies, we will focus on the highest LSAT score and report the highest score.

Any large differences (a seven or eight point jump) between LSAT scores should be explained in an addendum attached to your application and be honest about the discrepancy in your scores. We simply want to know why one score is a better predictor of your ability than another.

We read the writing sample and you should take it seriously. Remember that you are applying for a professional program and it reflects very poorly on an applicant's judgment when we see a writing sample with a silly or unprofessional comment in it (this really happens)."

I do think it'll have some bearing on your application though (and mine as I took 2) since if they have someone with a similar case but who only took the LSAT once and got your high score, wouldn't you take the single score test taker? But I don't think they straight out average the score.

[JamMasterJ]

Agreed. My puny 170-ass got in...? Well, there's no way Columbia's not taking you.

There's no reason to sell yourself short. A 4.0 is impressive, and you probably have good softs to go with it. Given how my cycle has gone so far, I would say my app has a red flag, or at least a major weakness, somewhere beyond the numbers.

you, me, and KevinP (who is a pretty similar applicant-only in at Vandy so far) seem to have had basically the same results so far. I don't know what the situation is right now. I know that Mich is being conservative with high LSAT's b/c of yield and that NYU may have been doing some form of mini-YP with people waiting on Chi ED, but I wonder if there's some weird issue with 176+/3.5x's right now at some of the schools because of the strange application cycle.

[amc987]

Good luck all, sorry to hear about the dings before NYE (that's kind of a dick move that reinforces my questioning of whether I'm down for Chi. Columbia did the same. Really messed up).

To be fair, and I'm in no way justifying Chicago's and Columbia's decision making this cycle because I think it's kooky at best, the schools are obliged to let ED applicants know by December 31st in a lot of cases. I'm not sure there's a good time of year to get bad news about your first choice school and the schools' only alternative in this case would be to ruin people's Chrismukkah celebrations with deferrals and rejections. They're kind of between a rock and a hard place. At least this way people can leave the bad news in 2011 and hope for better things in the New Year. I know that's not much of a silver lining, but it's the best I can come up with atm.

Sorry for Jam and Luxxe and all the others who weren't accepted ED. Good luck to all! I'm hoping to hear good news as an RD candidate in a few weeks!

[SpoonForkSpork]

It wasn't either of those lol, but something tells me that if they went far enough to include that in a FAQ, they are probably pretty strict.

Well then... shit?

[DonnaDraper]

It wasn't either of those lol, but something tells me that if they went far enough to include that in a FAQ, they are probably pretty strict.

Well then... shit?

Unless you drew pics or wrote something ridiculous and/or incredibly off-topic, I think you are good.

[luxxe]

you, me, and KevinP (who is a pretty similar applicant-only in at Vandy so far) seem to have had basically the same results so far. I don't know what the situation is right now. I know that Mich is being conservative with high LSAT's b/c of yield and that NYU may have been doing some form of mini-YP with people waiting on Chi ED, but I wonder if there's some weird issue with 176+/3.5x's right now at some of the schools because of the strange application cycle.

Why do you think NYU is YPing Chicago ED? At least one person who got in ED was admitted to NYU in a very early batch and... how would they know who is applying ED to other schools?

Hopefully when January rolls around and we still haven't withdrawn, DLSes will come.

[JamMasterJ]

you, me, and KevinP (who is a pretty similar applicant-only in at Vandy so far) seem to have had basically the same results so far. I don't know what the situation is right now. I know that Mich is being conservative with high LSAT's b/c of yield and that NYU may have been doing some form of mini-YP with people waiting on Chi ED, but I wonder if there's some weird issue with 176+/3.5x's right now at some of the schools because of the strange application cycle.

Why do you think NYU is YPing Chicago ED? At least one person who got in ED was admitted to NYU in a very early batch and... how would they know who is applying ED to other schools?

Hopefully when January rolls around and we still haven't withdrawn, DLSes will come.

I don't mean that they're YP'ing. But when they see 176/3.5, NYU might be being a little careful trying to make sure they don't get people scooped by one of the others, and if they want to wait until early Jan to see if some applicants withdraw, they could. I'm not saying this is always the case, or even a real thing at all, but I've seen several people with numbers like ours that haven't really gotten in anywhere. I mean, we know something is going on at Michigan to high 170ers

[JamMasterJ]

I honestly don't know why a specific subset of the applicant pool seems to be inordinately without acceptances. I just hope that Chi is going to need some high LSAT's later in the cycle.

[catholicgirl]

Good luck all, sorry to hear about the dings before NYE (that's kind of a dick move that reinforces my questioning of whether I'm down for Chi. Columbia did the same. Really messed up).

To be fair, and I'm in no way justifying Chicago's and Columbia's decision making this cycle because I think it's kooky at best, the schools are obliged to let ED applicants know by December 31st in a lot of cases. I'm not sure there's a good time of year to get bad news about your first choice school and the schools' only alternative in this case would be to ruin people's Chrismukkah celebrations with deferrals and rejections. They're kind of between a rock and a hard place. At least this way people can leave the bad news in 2011 and hope for better things in the New Year. I know that's not much of a silver lining, but it's the best I can come up with atm.

Sorry for Jam and Luxxe and all the others who weren't accepted ED. Good luck to all! I'm hoping to hear good news as an RD candidate in a few weeks!

Let's be frank, everyone in the freaking t-20 is losing it to some degree. Some schools are electing to preserve GPA floors and then others are being beyond weird (looking at you Chicago).

I think this cycle will only become more odd, especially with all the waitlistings of really qualified applicants like Luxxe and Jam.

[mickeyD]

@Jam.. What exactly is your theory about Michigan's high LSAT applicants? Applied forever ago and haven't heard a peep with my 174.

[JamMasterJ]

@Jam.. What exactly is your theory about Michigan's high LSAT applicants? Applied forever ago and haven't heard a peep with my 174.

well, soj still hasn't gotten in, and if you look at the LSN graph, there are a ton of people in the mid-high 170s that haven't gotten in yet. I think they are looking to hold off on making decisions on some applicants who numerically have a good chance at getting into CCN so that they don't hurt yield

[Hawkeye Pierce]

@Jam.. What exactly is your theory about Michigan's high LSAT applicants? Applied forever ago and haven't heard a peep with my 174.

well, soj still hasn't gotten in, and if you look at the LSN graph, there are a ton of people in the mid-high 170s that haven't gotten in yet. I think they are looking to hold off on making decisions on some applicants who numerically have a good chance at getting into CCN so that they don't hurt yield

Well, historically, Michigan waits until the new year to waitlist [over]qualified candidates like us who haven't heard back. My guess is they've more-or-less already made the WL decision, but haven't sent it out yet.

[mickeyD]

@Jam.. What exactly is your theory about Michigan's high LSAT applicants? Applied forever ago and haven't heard a peep with my 174.

well, soj still hasn't gotten in, and if you look at the LSN graph, there are a ton of people in the mid-high 170s that haven't gotten in yet. I think they are looking to hold off on making decisions on some applicants who numerically have a good chance at getting into CCN so that they don't hurt yield

Well, historically, Michigan waits until the new year to waitlist [over]qualified candidates like us who haven't heard back. My guess is they've more-or-less already made the WL decision, but haven't sent it out yet.

YP. Gotcha. It's just weird that splitters like us haven't been getting much love. You'd think it would be the opposite with the whole "less applicants/LSAT takers" thing. Considering that HLS has effectively flipped me the bird I'd like to pick up something else..

Could it be that we see more splitters getting in as the cycle shakes out? It's just weird because I figured that schools would start by gunning to scoop up those high LSATs early on.

[skers]

Oh, I looked at the profiles and they seemed somewhat suspicious.

Looks like softs are making a big difference.

[MumofCad]

mickeyd-No school YPs early decision. It wouldn't make any sense to do so. You have to choose them if they choose you. Once they release you into RD, they are essentially 'losing' you potentially to another school.

Chicago raised their GPA numbers to astronomical numbers last year. It seems they are setting higher floors now, like if you couldn't expect to get into Stanford you can no longer expect to get into Chi early either. Michigan has always picked and chosen among high number applicants who they want to admit. There are plenty of high numbered people who got in last year and this year already -remember alot of LSN profiles are private until after the cycle.

I know more people will get in. I wouldn't call it YP, but just that they let a certain number of people in each number group in that attract their attention. I'm basing this on the fact that I haven't personally witnessed YPing even with the two lowest ranked schools I applied to and I didn't write why statements. Then I think as the cycle goes and people withdraw for other options they have to start letting in people not on that first list, but with the numbers to maintain the initial medians they set out. Getting WL or rolled means they still consider you Chi material after all. They are just waiting to see if there will be room in the class. 4 months from now, you will all have great options (unless of course one of your LORs screwed you or something, which would have been a rejection not a WL). I would think a LOCI and another LOR could get you in. Some of those anomalies might be military vets or what not. Its tough to rely too much on LSN or TLS for understanding the entire app decision. Some people just don't share all relevant info either because they don't know its relevant or out of privacy. And in the end, the process is subjective _ you end up on some adcoms' wow 'list and others will go 'ok.' It sucks, but its just the way these things work. I've been there myself where with the exact same app for basically the same scholarship, one committee gave it to me and the other threw me in the reject pile.

Anyhow, I hope the cycle turns around. I am almost positive it will.

[hyakku]

Good to hear about Ann Perry's sense of humor. Like I said, it wasn't anything crazy, but it was just funny to see that worded like that. And I had forgotten about the Dec. 31 deadline for EDs, so I'll grant both Columbia and Chi that. Still though, you would think they would have tried to do any WLs before the Christmas week, but that would be before the first wave of acceptances. Guess I was being slightly unreasonable but damn if it's not a shitty position for the schools and applicants to be in around this time.